'Shark Brothers' join Mote to test Gulf sharks for oil

Sean and Brooks Paxton, known to some as the "Shark Brothers," have dedicated themselves to marine and wildlife conservation.

And a few weeks ago they added Mote Marine Laboratory research team to their bios.

"I'd say it was like going on the greatest field trip ever," said Sean Paxton, 44, about the five-day trip the brothers spent with a Mote crew the Gulf searching and sampling for signs of oil impacting marine life, with a special focus on sharks.

"They're (sharks) feared, but they're also a threatened species, so they do need our help," Brooks Paxton said.

Mote used Brooks, 40, and Sean's expertise in catching and releasing large sharks.

"The first animal was a tiger shark in excess of 10 feet, a beautiful male specimen," Sean Paxton said.

The brothers also filmed some of the trip. The footage shows that big tiger shark slamming his jaws shut as Sean headed toward him on board the research vessel.

"The other animals we encountered in the world of sharks were silkies, a scalloped hammerhead, a mako," Sean Paxton said.

Bob Hueter, who is the director of Mote's Center for Shark Research, led the research trip.

"Yes, the fish can look healthy, but inside the liver, inside the blood, reproductive organs, for example, we can find residues of the contaminants of the oil," Hueter said. "Or their behavior changes and they don't go to the right places to feed and possibly shifting not only populations but the whole ecosystem out there."

Hueter said the team positioned itself about 100 miles from the site of the Deepwater Horizon spill.

"We actually saw one of the containment booms floating by the ship," Hueter said. "But there were no obvious signs of any oil either in the water or on the marine life."

Hueter said the truth lies in the test results, which may take several months to complete.

"But we really expect to see something," he said. "We didn't dodge the bullet. We took the bullet."

He said the question now is the severity of the "injury."

"Hopefully it's not as bad as we think or expect," said Brooks Paxton.

"I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic that we don't see any terrible, long-lasting effects from it," Sean Paxton said.

A crew from Mote will return to the Gulf for a second oil study in the spring. And Sean and Brooks Paxton hope to be part of the team.

"For us it was an opportunity to work with who we consider to be among the best and the brightest in their field," Sean Paxton said.

A grant from the Florida Institute of Oceanography at the University of South Florida paid for four Mote oil research trips. The institute got the money grant from $10 million BP gave to the state.